


Lord of the Heavens, Lord of Time

by Karalyn



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Foreigner Series - C. J. Cherryh
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, the doctor has been everywhere, typical 43 minute episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-16 02:45:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7248922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karalyn/pseuds/Karalyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Aiji-ma,” Tabini’s senior guard said, “the team downstairs reports two humans have exited the object.” He frowned, hand to his earpiece, then corrected. “Two persons who both appear to be human, aiji-ma, one of whom claims not to be human, both of whom are speaking fluent Ragi.”</p>
<p>“Gods less fortunate!” Tabini clenched his fists on the desk and looked at the ceiling, as if for guidance. Then he looked at Bren. “Are these your alien associates, paidhi-aiji?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place immediately after the events in “Peacemaker.” Fairly major spoilers for "Peacemaker."

Prologue

The TARDIS had materilized quite some time ago, but the argument wasn’t over yet. 

“I’m saying maybe, for once, we go somewhere that we’re actually welcome!” 

“I’m welcome all over the universe!” 

“Which is why the last five planets we’ve gone to, we’ve immediately been surrounded by people with guns?” 

“It has not been the last five planets.” 

“Algol,” Donna growled. “Messaline, Bandril.” 

“There were no guns there for a good three hours.” 

“Sireen. New Venus.” 

“Oh yeah I’d forgotten about Sireen.” 

“Doctor, it happens all the time.” 

“Come on, sometimes it’s swords, not guns.” 

“You're the one always complaining about guns and senseless violence! Look; where have we landed this time?” 

“I haven’t checked yet.” 

Donna ran over to the coordinates output and put her hands over the display. “Don’t! Don’t even bother to look, I will _bet_ you that when we walk out that door- people with guns.” The Doctor ran over to the viewscreen control and opened the screen. 

“See, you’re wrong! Look, we’re clearly in some kind of old museum. It’s early morning, judging by the light. There’ll be hardly anyone about, and we can have a quiet look ‘round.” 

“And if I’m right,” Donna said heatedly, “you’ll take me somewhere properly friendly, where I’ll be treated like a movie star!” 

“And when I'm right, you have to promise not to bring up New Venus again.” 

“Deal!” 

“Ha!” The Doctor exclaimed, as a tall black figure appeared on the screen, appearing to circle the TARDIS. “Ivrel III, I know exactly where we are, thank you very much. Now when, _when_ , is the issue.” He moved over to where Donna was still blocking the readout. 

“Oh no, you go out there blind, Mr. I’m-Welcome-Everywhere. And you’ll notice that man is carrying _guns_.” 

“Nonsense. Atevi Assassins’ Guild. They’re always armed.” 

“Assassins! Brilliant! I can’t wait to win this bet, if we survive. Somewhere with a lovely spa, I think.” 

“Seriously, Donna, I need to see when we are, there are complicated socio-political-“ 

“Oh no, no. You’re so certain, let’s just open the door and see where and when we are, I’m sure the “assassins” are no trouble at all.” She reached for the lever to open the door. 

But the Doctor was staring at a different readout on the TARDIS console. 

“Now what do you suppose that is?”


	2. Chapter 2

Bren Cameron was enjoying an early breakfast in his own dining room. His head still ached, but less than it had the day before, and there was a great weight of worry off his mind. The birthday celebrations for Tabini-aiji’s son Cajeiri had gone off without a hitch. Well, unless one counted the surprisingly timed birth of the young lord’s new sister. _That_ had been an exciting end to the day. But all was well: the Assassins’ Guild was putting their house in order, he and Banichi were on the mend, the aishidi’tat had an official heir, the human children had behaved admirably and come to no harm, and the young aiji himself had, by all reports, had an excellent evening with his young human friends. The celebrations in Shejidan had gone on all night in the city streets, public festivity: loud, alcohol-fueled, but mostly peaceful. Algini and Tano had reported no significant problems from the Guild members sent out to ensure the peace. Now he need only figure out what plans ought to be made for Cajeiri and his young guests until the shuttle flight was scheduled. Perhaps…

Bren’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of booted feet moving toward the front door at a pace far faster than permitted by normal decorum. One was Jago he was certain, not quite running, and one other of his aishid close behind her. Bren pushed back from the table, mildly alarmed, and motioned to Jeladi not to refill his teacup. But as he headed toward the security station – from where Jago had certainly come – he was stopped by Banichi. 

“Nichi-ji, is there an alarm?” 

“On the lower hall of the Bu-javid in the exhibition wing, yes, Bren-ji,” Banichi said. He was in just his shirt-sleeves, but was carrying the heavily armored jacket in his good arm. “Cenedi called for Jago to assist.” Bren puzzled over that for a few moments before deciding, no, despite his still somewhat muzzy head he had not missed anything. 

“A security alert in the exhibition hall, and _Cenedi_ called for _Jago_ , nadiin-ji?” he asked, the plural address including Tano who had come up behind Banichi, hand to one ear where surely communications were flying. 

“Algini went with Jago, Bren-ji,” Tano said. “The reports are a bit garbled.” Tano looked slightly abstracted as he listened. “There is an item in the exhibition hall that was not there last night, that no one can identify. The guards on duty this morning are of lower rank and have not yet had their guild communications restored. One of the guards was Eastern, and sent a message directly to Cenedi.” That made some sense at least, Bren thought. Except for the part about calling for Jago. Certainly his aishid and the dowager’s had worked in close partnership many times over the last several years, not only on Phoenix, but after their return in restoring the aiji to power, and taking down the conspiracies that had revealed themselves to be at the heart of the Assassins’ Guild only recently. But Banichi was the senior member of his guard, not Jago. 

“Surely if they are worried about an explosive device, or some kind of unauthorized surveillance, Cenedi and his men are equipped to handle it.” 

“Certainly, one would believe so, Bren-ji,” Banichi said, motioning to Tano to assist in putting on his jacket over his injured shoulder. “However the item, whatever it is, has a deal of writing on it, and Jago knows more Mosphei’ than any of Cenedi’s or Tabini’s guards.” 

Writing in _Mosphei’_? 

“I should see this item, Banichi-ji,” Bren said, attempting to make his way past the wall of black leather toward his bedroom. “Ladi-ji, would you please send my apologies to Bindanda for the interrupted breakfast?” 

“Bren-ji,” Banichi said, sounding slightly exasperated. “You will not go down to the exhibition hall until Jago and Cenedi are certain this is not an explosive device, and that it poses no danger to you, or to Tabini, or to the Bu-javid.” He folded his good arm across his chest, the injured shoulder somewhat softening the stern gesture. “And even then, you _will_ wear the vest.” 

Bren sighed. “One agrees, of course.” And went to have his wardrobe seen to. He hated wearing a bulletproof vest, but it had saved his life more than once. 

While he was engaged in the lengthy process of formal dress, Jago and Algini returned. Jago came to the bedroom while Algini went, he presumed, straight to the security station, to confer with the other two members of his aishid. 

“Bren-ji,” Jago said, “Banichi and Tano have briefed you?” 

“Only somewhat. Did you see whatever this item is?” 

“It is a large box of some kind. About so tall,” she motioned to a foot or more above her own head, “and words are printed on it ‘police public call box’ across the top,” she said those words in Mosphei’, in her lilting accent. “Does that mean anything to you?” 

Bren paused in straightening the lace at his cuffs, thinking. “No, Jago-ji.” 

“Police,” Jago said, “are the human equivalent to Guild, are they not? Could there be some human faction that has allied itself with the Shadow Guild? Some phone, some communications outpost, the way Lord Geigi dropped communication relays?” 

“The closest equivalent in some ways, Jago-ji, but by no means their equal,” Bren said, hesitantly. “Police on Mospheira do not receive anything close to half the training of even the most inexperienced Guild I have met. They hardly need it.” 

“I will relay your opinion to Cenedi, nandi,” Jago said, all business now. “After a thorough search, Algini does not believe it contains any kind of explosives,” Jago continued. “Our scanners get almost no reading at all, however, and we cannot open it.” 

“Open it?” 

“There are what appear to be doors on one side, and a sign which says ‘pull to open’.” This also in Mosphei’. Distantly Bren heard the front door open and close briefly. A message perhaps. There were likely a number of those being hastily written and passed around the third floor of the Bu-javid this morning. “Please stay here for now, Bren-ji. We may ask Kaplan-nadi and Polano-nadi to come in their equipment, however.” 

“I thought you said Algini and Cenedi didn’t believe it was dangerous.” 

“They do not believe it will _explode_. What other danger it might contain we do not know. We are more concerned at the moment with the method by which it arrived in the exhibition hall.” 

“It was brought in while the guards were not looking?” 

“No. It appeared in front of them, out of thin air, while the guards were looking directly at it.” 

Bren breathed in sharply. “ _What?_ Are you sure, nadi-ji?” 

“Cenedi states that he trusts his man,” she said with a small, one shouldered shrug that indicated she could not herself judge the guard in question. “The guards reported hearing a strange noise, they notified their senior- properly- and moved to investigate, then simply watched as this object appeared where it had not been.” 

“How is that possible?” Bren whispered, mostly to himself. Then, “The aiji has been notified of all this?” 

“Of course.” 

Banichi came back into the room. “Kaplan and Polano will be on standby with their gear,” he began, when he was interrupted by a very hurried Narani. 

“Nandi,” Narani said. He bowed, and entered the bedroom as well, Banichi moving aside to allow him in. “The aiji wishes to see you immediately.” 

Bren sighed. “One is not particularly surprised. Thank you, Rani-ji. At least we are already dressed for this visit.” 

“Jago and I will go with you, Bren-ji, “Banichi said. “Algini and Tano are transporting special equipment to the exhibit hall.” 

And what ‘special equipment’ entailed when it came to Guild, one didn’t ask, Bren thought.

*****

The aiji’s major domo showed Bren into Tabini’s office. The aiji’s stack of papers and scrolls seemed even higher than normal. He looked up as Bren entered and made his bow. 

“Paidhi, please be seated,” Tabini said. “The thought came to us that if we had you in our office we would not have to worry about either there being news from our grandmother that bypassed my aishid, nor your being downstairs doing something foolish without our permission.” Tabini left the two worries deliberately unmodified, ironic infelicity. 

“Aiji-ma,” Bren said, dismayed, and bowed again. He had, of course, wanted to go directly downstairs, just as Tabini had said. He was certain he blushed. “Do they believe this could truly be some sort of retaliatory strike from the remnants of the Shadow Guild, aiji-ma?” Bren asked, taking his accustomed chair. Tabini had motioned for tea to be brought in, and he had to ask before it was served and business could, by custom, not be discussed. 

“One has no idea, paidhi-ji,” Tabini said, and sighed. “Cenedi informs my aishid that he does not believe the item is of atevi construction. He says the numbers are all wrong.” 

Some Mospheiran item after all? Something from the station? Another of Lord Geigi’s technological surprises? Or, as Jago had suggested, some previously unknown human faction that had indeed allied itself with their enemies. That was a chilling thought. It had happened before, as they could all unfortunately attest, back when Phoenix had first returned, and almost thrown the aishidi’tat into chaos. 

“They have been unable to open it, or even to damage its surface,” Tabini continued. “We would of course, normally wish to consult with Lord Geigi; however, apparently the changeover in Guild communications is also involving changes at Mogari'nai, and makes communication with the station on sensitive matters unwise for the next half day or so. The coincidence of such inconvenience, of course, being suspicious in itself.” Conversation halted as the tea arrived and was served. 

“Thank you, nadi,” Bren said with a small nod to the servant, accepting his teacup. 

“How is your head today, nand’paidhi,” Tabini asked, after the ceremonial first three sips of tea. 

“Much improved, thank you aiji-ma. And is your lady wife still well? And your daughter?” 

“Both very well, paidhi, yes.” The conversation went on in such mundanities for several minutes until every bodyguard inside the room, and Bren’s two waiting just outside, twitched simultaneously. Tabini set down his teacup. 

“Report.” 

“Aiji-ma,” Tabini’s senior guard said, “the team downstairs reports two humans have exited the object.” He frowned, hand to his earpiece, then corrected. “Two persons who both appear to be human, aiji-ma, one of whom claims not to be human, both of whom are speaking fluent Ragi. They have so far offered no resistance.” 

“Gods less fortunate!” Tabini clenched his fists on the desk and looked at the ceiling, as if for guidance. Then he looked at Bren. “Are these your alien associates, paidhi-aiji?” 

“I… one greatly doubts so, aiji-ma,” Bren said, his mind racing with possibilities. “The kyo are similar to both our species in certain general aspects of form, but could in no wise be mistaken for either human or atevi. You saw the images we brought back from space.” 

“Indeed. Where is our grandmother, nadiin-ji?” This last to his aishid. 

“Cenedi reports she is going downstairs aiji-ma,” Banichi answered from the doorway. 

“Infelicitous gods!” Tabini swore again. “Does she intend to take charge of these prisoners also? Lodge them with the two Dojisigi Assassins in her store rooms, perhaps?” 

“Aiji-ma,” the Banichi said in a low voice, “if there is a possibility these persons are indeed involved with the Shadow Guild, we should interrogate them, or at least be present when the dowager’s men do so.” 

There was an extended silence before Tabini spoke. “The legislature would not worry over the idea of my esteemed grandmother taking power in the aijinate if they knew how reckless she regularly is of her own safety,” Tabini said to Bren, almost conversationally. 

“Your enemies have tried to use human agents before, aiji-ma,” Bren said. “I should be present as well.” 

“You went with your guard to the Kadigidi house, expecting disaster. You went into an attack in the heart of the Assassins’ Guild itself only days ago. We suppose there _must_ be a felicitous third opportunity for you to do something dangerously foolish this week. Fortune has clearly been with you so far. Baji-naji.”

“Aiji-ma,” Bren said quietly, bowing his head. “One will try to take the utmost care.”

“Go. Take two of my guard with you. And if the gods of chance and fortune are truly on your side, do attempt to talk some sense into my grandmother, if such a thing can be done. My son and his guard are not to be informed of any of this until I say otherwise.” Tabini’s pale yellow eyes flicked over Bren’s guard, lingering perhaps on Banichi’s immobilized arm, and perhaps remembering just how dire circumstances had been only a very few days ago. “Collect the rest of your aishid before you go, paidhi.” 

Bren rose and bowed deeply. “Of course, aiji-ma.” He looked at Banichi, who nodded slightly, acknowledgement of an order received. They took their leave.


	3. Chapter 3

Bren’s aishid would still not let him into the exhibition hall to view the strange box; it had apparently opened only long enough for the two persons to emerge, then sealed itself up tight again. Ilisidi’s men and Tabini’s were still running tests and examining it closely. The two strangers, however- a man and a woman- had been placed into one of the secure rooms attached to the office of Bu-javid Security for such purposes. Algini and Tano met Bren and his escort by the lifts, and showed him to the room. Cenedi himself stood just outside, awaiting them. Ilisidi sat nearby in a comfortable looking chair that had clearly been moved in from elsewhere.

“Were they armed, Cenedi-ji?” Bren asked him, once the preliminaries were out of the way.

“The man had a number of suspicious items on his person, however if they are weapons we have been unable to determine their nature.” This, coming from one of the most experienced Guild members on the entire continent. Did a weapon exist that Cenedi had not seen? Well, Cajeiri’s “slingshota” came to mind. Who knew what else atevi had never seen? “More interesting is this item,” Cenedi finished and held out a small leather wallet that opened to reveal a white piece of paper.

“What is it?”

“Nand’paidhi, please examine it and tell me what it says,” Cenedi said, handing him the object.

Bren looked at the small sheet of paper which indeed had words printed on it.

“ _We should probably just shoot them both and pretend they were never here,_ ” Bren read in some alarm. 

Cenedi blinked. Bren had never seen him taken aback in quite that way.

“When Nawari took it from the woman,” he said, after an extended pause, “it read _’We are not a threat, please don’t shoot either of us,’_ in Ragi, with the appropriate felicitous modifiers. When I handed it to Casimi, he said it told him that the paidhi-aiji was coming down to join us with two of the aiji’s guard, which I had only just then heard over the communications network.” He looked to Ilisidi who appeared irritated. “Aiji-ma?”

“You are all quite mad,” the aiji-dowager snapped. “It is a blank piece of paper.”

“Fascinating,” Bren said, looking more closely at the paper. “Could it be some kind of electronic readout, made to look like paper?”

“We have no knowledge of any such technology,” Cenedi said gravely. “But the man- who claims that he is not human- says they are from another world.”

“Is it safe for me to go in?” Bren asked, looking toward the detention room.

“As far as we can tell they are unarmed, nandi, and they have made no hostile moves so far.” 

“I would wish to speak with them, if you permit, aiji-ma,” he said to Ilisidi. She stood slowly with the help of her cane and waved her permission at him. 

Bren made a hand sign indicating all four of his guard should follow him, and opened the door to the secure room. The two strangers were sitting in rather plain, atevi-scale chairs, which meant that neither of them had their feet touching the ground. They stood when Bren entered.

“Ah!” the man said, “Post landing indeed, thank heavens. Didn’t I say just the other day humans find their ways into the most unusual places all over the Galaxy, Donna?” The woman rolled her eyes but, having stood, moved closer to her associate, almost reflexively. It didn’t do much to help the feeling of being towered over by four extremely tall, extremely armed atevi, as Bren well knew.

The man was Bren’s height, his hair brown, short and styled almost haphazardly. The woman was a little shorter, average height for a human woman; her dark red hair was shoulder length, hanging loose in the human fashion. They both would have been considered fairly well-dressed had this been Mospheira, her in a silk blouse and neat trousers, him in a striped suit and wearing a tie, though with sneakers that were oddly paired with the ensemble

With a glance back at his aishid to let them know he was moving, Bren walked up to the two and stopped a respectful distance away. 

“My name is Bren Cameron. I represent Tabini-aiji. Who are you?” He spoke in Mosphei’ without giving it a second thought; they were clearly human.

“Mr. Cameron, lovely to meet you. I’m the Doctor, this is Donna. Look I’m sure this is all unnecessary; if the TARDIS is in an inconvenient location I’d be happy to move it for you. There was a signal I thought we should check out though.”

“Are you from Mospheira?” Bren asked. He kept his voice calm, as if he’d made any sense out of the Doctor’s statement.

“Never heard of it, sorry,” the stranger answered cheerfully.

“You’ve never heard of Mospheira, sir? The only human territory on the planet? The only place humans are permitted to be on the planet without a visa specifically issued by the atevi government?” If they were lying, they were doing it convincingly.

“Oh bloody hell, Doctor,” Donna said. “Assassins weren’t enough, now you’ve run us afoul of the Home Office too?”

“Shh, it’s fine,” the Doctor said. Then to Bren, “Look I’m not human, no harm done. Donna is, but she’s with me, right?”

“You both look human enough to me.”

“Nand’paidhi,” came Ilisidi’s authoritative voice from the doorway. “Why do you keep speaking to these persons in Mosphei’ when they answer you in perfectly composed Ragi?” Bren turned to look at her, unable to keep the surprise from showing on his face.

“Aiji-ma, they are addressing me in Mosphei’.”

“They are not, nandi,” Banichi chimed in from one corner of the room. “One assures you we are all hearing them speak in Ragi.” Bren looked at Banichi, and at Jago for confirmation. She nodded. 

“What is this?” Bren held out the small leather wallet so that the man could see it. He spoke to them in Ragi, experimentally.

“Psychic paper!” the Doctor said. “Very useful in a lot of situations. Not so much here though, atevi don’t look kindly on forged documents.” The response was in Ragi this time. “Learned that the hard way a long time ago.”

“Do you see writing on it?”

“Well, yeah.” The Doctor looked at Bren rather oddly. “Right now it says that you really hope we’re not a threat to anyone you care about. Which is great, because we probably aren’t!” Donna smacked him on the forearm, and all guards moved, hands on weapons. “Donna, if you could please try not to alarm the tall people with the large guns,” he said. "One assures you all, nadiin, the guns are completely unnecessary. They usually are."

“Psychic paper,” Donna interrupted him. “It shows the person reading the paper what the person holding it wants them to see or know.” 

“Why was it blank for the aiji dowager, then?” Bren wanted to know.

“Well,” the Doctor said, running a hand through his already messy hair. “She’s probably a genius.” 

“Ha!” from Ilisidi in the back of the room. Bren was losing his train of thought. Donna was staring at him with an assessing look.

“You must be bilingual.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You were talking in English before,” Donna said. “Now you’re talking in their language, I think, because your words don’t quite match the way your mouth is moving. Doctor, how do you think the translation bit works on him?”

Now that she mentioned it, he could see it as well. Her voice came to him in perfect Ragi, but the mouth movements weren’t quite matched to the sounds he heard, because he _knew_ most of the words in Mosphei’. It was disconcerting, in fact, now that he noticed it. He couldn’t stop seeing the discrepancy.

“Ooh, don’t meet a lot of really, truly bilingual people these days,” the Doctor said, looking Bren over as if he were a particularly fascinating art exhibit. “Most people think largely in one language or the other. The TARDIS’s translation functions are telepathic, so you probably hear whatever language you’re thinking in.”

“I am bilingual, yes,” Bren said, slowly wondering where he’d lost control of the conversation. “I am the paidhi-aiji, linguistic and cultural interpreter between atevi and humans.” Which literally every person on the planet should know, damn it. “Who _are_ you? Why are you here?”

“Because he lost a bet,” Donna muttered under her breath.

“Just travelers,” the Doctor said, “wandering around the universe, sightseeing really.”

BANG, the dowager’s cane hit the floor, seizing everyone’s attention.

“Our planet has had more than enough aliens dropping out of the sky, young man,” Ilisidi said. “How did you get here?”

“The blue box is his spaceship,” Donna, said. “Look I’M human, I’m from Earth.” She held out her hand to Bren. “Donna Noble, nice to meet you.” Bren shook her hand, carefully; it was no longer a habit.

“It’s fine with me,” he said almost automatically, “but atevi don’t shake hands. When you meet someone, you bow, and if you wish to be polite- and I suggest very strongly that you do wish to be polite- you bow very deeply and respectfully to the aiji-dowager here.”

Donna looked at the Doctor who raised an eyebrow, but then they both bowed, very deeply and correctly to Ilisidi. He was thinking in Ragi now, he supposed, because he heard the Doctor say “One is most honored to meet you, nandi,” and Donna say simply, “Nandi.” Thinking about the languages was going to drive him crazy, and was already making his abused head hurt.

“Enough of this,” Ilisidi snapped, punctuating her words with the thump of her cane. “Look at me, young person. You say you are not human?”

“I am not, nandi,” the Doctor said.

“And you came here in that blue box? From another world?”

“Yes.”

“Are there more ships like it?”

“Not anymore. The Time Lords, my people, are all gone.”

“Lord of time itself you claim? How old are you, nadi?” Ilisidi said, slowly advancing on the two prisoners. Cenedi followed her closely. 

“Quite a bit older than I look,” the Doctor said, very calm.

“And I am _exactly_ as old as I look, nadi. And when I was a very young girl, my grandfather took me to see a collection of historic wood carvings.” The aiji-dowager did not take her eyes off the Doctor. “These carvings were extremely old. They were old when humans descended from the heavens on the petal-sails. They were old before the foreign star appeared in the heavens. They were old before the first Ragi explorers crossed the mountains to the East. And in one of those carvings, was your _box_.” She walked closer, her cane hitting the floor with that deliberate tapping sound. “And underneath your box was inscribed _aishiinmuti._ ” 

_Aishiinmuti_. Literally “breaker of other persons’ associations.” Not fractured from within, but from the outside. An interloper. A troublemaker. Bren wondered what the man and the woman, who apparently didn’t actually speak Ragi, but had some kind of translation device, made of that word.

“That,” said the Doctor, looking offended, “was not my fault.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word “Aishimuta” was listed in the beginning of “Deliverer,” as meaning “breach of association.” I modified it to make it work as the noun I wanted here. “Aishi” obviously being the root word for association, with Aishiin being the plural, going off the reading and going with a different noun ending for the word as a whole.


	4. Chapter 4

“A wood carving,” Tabini said as they sat again, this time with the dowager’s company, in Bren’s apartment. “Was this one I had ever seen?”

“No,” Ilisidi said. “Most of that collection was lost in a fire when your father was young. It was not part of Malguri estate. My grandfather might have had written records describing them, but if so I never came across them. Photography was not popular in my grandfather's time, but he was obsessed by that particular panel because of the strange box and the caption. He was convinced that it referenced some lost machimi, possibly even by one of the great Eastern masters of the art, and he hoped to recover further evidence of it.”

Certainly the account of the events that the Doctor had told them about his previous visit to the planet sounded like a plot from a machimi, Bren thought. As recently as a few years ago, in fact, he would have said it was completely unbelievable.

“And this alien lord claims it was a record of his having visited the planet hundreds of years ago,” Tabini said, shaking his head. “Do we believe him?”

“One is not sure what to believe, aiji-ma,” Bren said. He sat with the two atevi leaders in his own sitting room. The aiji’s company twice in the same week was closed to unprecedented, (his newer staff were quietly beside themselves,) but Tabini had said he did not want all the coming and going to disturb Damiri and the baby. The two strangers had not, as yet, been moved from the Bu-javid security office. But they couldn’t keep the lower halls on lockdown forever without answering some very uncomfortable questions to the general public. 

“Certainly the item they claim to be a ship is like nothing we’ve ever seen,” Ilisidi said. “Our collective guard still cannot open it. Several of the items my men confiscated from this Doctor are technology we do not recognize. And after a brief examination, my physician agrees that this man is indeed some other species than human, despite his appearances.”

“Gods greater and lesser,” Tabini’s voice showed the stress of the last few days. “And why has he come here, honored grandmother? Has he also come to join our son’s birthday festivities? Perhaps inviting aliens to one’s dinner table will become the fashion this season.”

“He claims to be merely a traveler,” Ilisidi said. “A tourist of different planets and cultures.”

“Aishiinmuti,” Tabini said softly, to himself.

“He claims the incident that earned him that particular title was a complete misunderstanding, though obviously we have no way to confirm what did or did not happen hundreds of years ago,” Bren said, “since indeed, as the aiji-dowager has said, even the most incomplete records did not survive.”

“An ill omen for those whom he visited in the past, paidhi-ji. What does he _want_?” Tabini repeated. “And if he possesses technology that not even the Lord of the Heavens has seen, what can we do with him if what he wants is not in the best interests of the aishidi’tat?” 

“Nand’Siegi is certain a bullet would still be completely effective, nandiin.” This from Cenedi at his post against the wall.

“Aiji-ma,” Bren said, before anyone could complicate matters by agreeing with Cenedi. “He said something about a signal that his ship picked up. A signal, originating from Shejidan, aimed off-world. My aishid fears it may be related to the missing members of the Shadow Guild that were not taken in our action four days ago.”

“No transmissions should be going off-world from Shejidan. We send through the dish at Mogari-nai,” Tabini said, frowning slightly. “This has been investigated?”

“We do not have the equipment to search the city from this location for the source of this alleged transmission, aiji-ma,” Banichi said from his position next to Cenedi. “We could send teams out into the city to search on foot with available equipment, but it would take most of the day, if not longer.”

“And this Doctor claims he can pinpoint the source accurately?” Tabini looked thoughtful.

“From inside his ship, yes, aiji-ma, though he suggested we might provide an electronic map of Shejidan for greatest accuracy,” Bren said. “Aiji-ma, the timing is too suspect; were our own communications fully online again, we could have the station or even Phoenix pinpoint this transmission for us. But by this evening when those systems are clear we fear this group will have stopped transmitting and moved on.”

“Well then, grandson,” Ilisidi stood slowly, leaning on her cane. “We would be very interested to see this person’s ship.”

“Grandmother,” Tabini growled.

“Paidhi-aiji, if you would be so kind as to lend us Tano-nadi, since he has had the most experience in advanced communications technology, he may provide an appropriate map of Shejidan. We will escort this Doctor to his ship and see the proper arrangements are made. You, paidhi, may stay and entertain the human woman. Presumably this person will not fly off and leave his associate behind.”

“Fortunate gods, why do we even bother issuing orders when our grandmother is in the room?” Tabini stood, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. 

“We have experience with aliens and starships, after all, grandson,” she said, ignoring the outburst. “Perhaps we will make touring alien ships a hobby in our retirement.”

“Nand'dowager,” Bren said, disquieted. “Are you sure this is the wisest course? Our guards have not been able to scan the inside of the ship. There could be countless kinds of danger.”

“Pish!” Ilisidi said, rapping her cane smartly on the floor. “This alien visitor seems to us to be a very polite and knowledgeable person. And he flirts as shamelessly as you do, paidhi-ji.”

“Aiji-ma, please take the utmost care,” Bren cautioned.

“You take your own care with the human woman, nand’paidhi, in case she is not as harmless as she seems,” Ilisidi ordered, “and I will handle this alien lord. Is our great-grandson still where he ought to be?”

“He is still with his guests in the Atigeini apartments, according to staff reports. I understand they were up quite late last night in their celebrations,” Tabini said. “If his guard ask, they will be told only that there is a security alert on main level of the Bu-javid, and that they are instructed to stay to his great-uncle’s quarters.” He waved, dismissing Bren and the others. “If you have quite finished giving orders to all of my people, honored Grandmother, I will return to my wife, and to the stack of paperwork the investiture has generated. Do please notify me if anyone declares war on the planet?”

“We will return the paidhi in good health, never fear, grandson.”

“I should never have introduced the two of you,” Tabini muttered. “I had no idea you would corrupt him so thoroughly.”

*****

“Do you think the woman is dangerous, nadiin-ji,” Bren asked his aishid as they traveled downstairs once again, this time in a much larger group with the dowager and her men. “Ought we to leave her in the holding room? One would not bring her to the third floor residences, by any means, but perhaps my office?” His office would be mostly quiet, shut down for the day of public festivity, though if Bren knew his staff there would probably be one or two diligent souls in there, driven by an intense work ethic, to make sure correspondence did not get behind.

“She is unarmed, Bren-ji, and we have had no word from the guards in the office of Bu-javid Security that either person has made any hostile move,” Banichi answered him. “They have apparently been playing cards. As long as trusted staff prepares the food and drink, your office would be acceptable.”

Once they arrived at the Security office Ilisidi wasted no time.

“Young man- nand’ _Doctor_ \- we will escort you to your ship, and you will show us the origin of this mysterious signal. The paidhi will entertain your associate until we have concluded,” Ilisidi announced in the commanding way she had. 

“Donna-daja,” Bren bowed to the Doctor's associate, “while the aiji-dowager conducts business, I thought I might offer you tea in my office, which is close by.” Donna looked surprised, and pleased. 

“Tea would be lovely, thank you,” she said, glancing at the Doctor for confirmation.

“They're all about tea here; I told you it was a very civilized planet,” the Doctor said cheerfully, motioning to her to go ahead. “Just make sure what they serve is safe for humans.”

“My own private stock, I assure you,” Bren said, bowing slightly to the Doctor.

“Wait, what do you mean safe for humans?” Donna asked, in some alarm, as she was led out. Banichi and Jago were in front, Tano and Algini behind, boxing in Bren and Donna with a wall of tall, intimidating persons in black leather. Bren quickly explained about the importance of avoiding the alkaloids that were common in many atevi foods. He practically had the speech memorized after so many years. 

In his office he found, yes, three staff members putting in hours despite the official holiday, and to his slight surprise, Narani himself, having taken it upon himself to come downstairs with Asicho to serve the tea. Personal curiosity about all the disturbance? Surety of Narani's discretion? Or a decision that if something went wrong, one elderly, plain-clothes Guild might make a difference. He would have to ask his aishid, and they still probably would not give him a straight answer. Bren made sure to offer the guest his normal human-scale chair, taking a larger one for himself, since Donna was a half foot shorter than even Bren.

“You said you’re from Earth,” he said, after the tea was poured. “The actual human homeworld?”

“Well, yeah,” Donna said, looking surprised. 

“What’s it like?” Bren couldn’t help but ask.

“What, you’ve never been there?”

“All the humans on this planet are descended from the crew and colonists on a starship that got lost in space three hundred or so years ago. The atevi were polite enough not to wipe us out and we’ve spent the last couple of centuries trying to understand each other well enough not to go to war again. We've only just in the last ten years jointly made it into space again.”

“Wow,” Donna said, a little dismayed. “And you said you’re the only human here?”

“Here on the continent, and in the Bu-javid, normally, yes. Though we have some human guests visiting from the space station at the moment. By the treaty we signed with the atevi, humans keep completely to the island of Mospheira. We still don’t know where to find the human planet from here, actually. The star charts our ship carried didn’t extend this far.”

“I’m sure the Doctor knows where it is,” Donna said. “Is the dowager going to ask him?”

Bren was momentarily taken aback. He looked automatically at Banichi and Jago, who he assumed were in contact with the dowager’s men. They gave him stone faces. 

“I … doubt that’s one of her priorities,” Bren felt almost faint, and couldn't tell if it was his injured head, or the turn in conversation. The human homeworld. “I never believed it would be found in my lifetime. Now? No, it would be far too disruptive to the fragile stability we have achieved. There would be a drive to build more space ships and the consequences to the economy and the political stability could be devastating."

“That’s too bad. It’s got some nice bits. The Doctor spends a lot of time there. Though I’m pretty sure we’re in the future now.”

“The future?”

“From where I was born. When I was born. The Doctor’s spaceship also travels in time. There was no space program on Earth to speak of when I was there.”

“You travel in time.”

“Yeah, first trip he took me two thousand years into Earth's past.”

There was some silence as Bren absorbed that statement. He'd been guilty of poor judgement before, in strangers as well as of people he knew, but this woman seemed so honest. 

"Do you believe the aiji-dowager is right to trust him?" he asked finally.

"He struggles, sometimes," Donna said, looking a bit unhappy. "But he's a good man, really. He tries to help people. People all over the universe."

“He said the rest of his people were gone.”

“Some kind of horrible war," Donna said. "I don’t think most of them ever traveled too much. He said he was always the black sheep of the family; Earth was his second home even before whatever happened, happened. I think he just likes humans.” That last sentence came to him in Mosphei’ when they had (as far as he was concerned,) been speaking in Ragi the whole time. Presumably whatever translated her words couldn’t do anything with that troublesome verb “like” without resorting to salads.

“It’s the ship that translates for you?” Bren said, curious.

“Telepathic circuits, he said,” Donna shrugged. “Honestly I can’t tell when he’s making things up or just dumbing the technology down for me. But it might actually be true.” She stirred her tea and nibbled at one of the wafers. “I used to think it was a bit daft; someone from an advanced civilization, all of time and space at your beck and call, and you hang out on Earth with humans who haven't left their own solar system and can’t stop trying to kill each other over stupid things? But he’s very lonely. I think, what it would be like to be the only one of your species? Trying to form connections with aliens, with anyone, just to keep yourself sane. Knowing you can never go back home. 

She looked up from her tea to see that Bren had gone quite pale.


	5. Chapter 5

“It’s truly not necessary for you to accompany me, nand’dowager,” the Doctor said. He had to work to keep up with Ilisidi’s pace, even though she was almost the same height as he was. She was determined.

“Pish!” Ilisidi said. “We have seen two alien spaceships, young man, and we wish to see a fortunate third. Our grandson has not seen even one, which we will delight to hold over his head at some future date.”

The Doctor fumbled briefly with the key that he wore around his neck, opening the door and waving the dowager inside graciously. 

“Cenedi, Nawari,” Ilisidi said, and waved her cane at the open door. Her two guards went in first, with other two and Tano taking up watch behind her. She offered her arm to the Doctor who took it, amused, and escorted her through the TARDIS door. A huge multi-sided room loomed before her as she entered, wood carvings curved and swooped around the edges of the room, and in the center a vastly tall glowing console with an immense number of buttons and wires. Cenedi and his partner were already on the far side of the room, looking for the numbers knew _what_ kind of dangers, but it was their job, and if there were something dangerous they would find it. Ilisidi walked slowly around the room, observing, nodding pleasantly. She came to a cluster of three seats and sat down.

“Quite a contraption, nand’Doctor,” Ilisidi said.

“Most people remark that it’s bigger on the inside,” the Doctor said. 

Ilisidi shot him a withering look. “We have already told you we are familiar with spaceships, young man,” she said. “This looked nothing like a spaceship, thus it was obviously in disguise.” She paused, thinking. “Being able to disguise a large ship would be an immense tactical advantage. Can you change the way it looks?”

“I could, once, nandi. We had some trouble with the chameleon circuit though, and then it turned out she just liked the blue police box look, and I could never convince her to take any other form even once we got the circuit repaired.” 

Ilisidi laughed. “Incredible. And will you share this technology with us, Lord of Time?”

“No, nand’dowager,” the Doctor said, his face very solemn. She nodded, just as solemnly. 

“Tano-nadi,” Ilisidi said, “come show this man your map and see if we can work with his equipment. Let us be done with this adventure and ease my grandson’s worries.” While the paidhi’s guard hastened to do just that, the dowager stood up again and wandered to the far side of the center console. She placed her hand on it, feeling a pulse of something that was not quite electricity. 

“The ship is alive?” she asked, interrupting the numbers that the Doctor and Tano were exchanging.

“Nandi?” the Doctor asked, looking up.

“You said ‘she’ chose to look this way. The ship is alive?”

“Essentially, yes, nand’dowager,” the Doctor said.

“And old,” Ilisidi said, running her hand over the console.

“Older even than I am, nandi. And I am over a thousand years old.”

“A very old lady, indeed,” Ilisidi said, thoughtfully. Then, with a smile that was downright impish, “Cenedi, pay your respects to this noble ship.”

“Aiji-ma,” Cenedi said, glaring at Ilisidi, but acknowledging that he had heard her. He made no move to comply with her order, however.

“Nandiin,” Tano said, still looking at his equipment, plugged into the TARDIS console, “the signal is coming from the merchant’s district, just out of range from what equipment in Guild headquarters would be able to detect.”

Cenedi was next to him in an instant. “Casimi, Seimaji, report in with Guild headquarters and notify them of our recommended action.” They had already found their Guild communications devices did not work inside the TARDIS. Cenedi rattled off a set of coordinates that would mean very little to non-Guild, and the two guards exited with considerable speed.

“This is certainly far different than we expected." Ilisidi was still slowly circling the TARDIS console. "Much more comfortable than the kyo ship, at the very least.”

“Oh you’ve met the kyo? This is the right quadrant for them, isn’t it? Cautious lot, not fond of drop-ins.”

“Our human colony’s ancestors apparently antagonized them,” Ilisidi said with a frown. “Do not tell us that you are also in their disfavor.”

“Well, maybe a little,” the Doctor said looking embarrassed. “Will have done, in the future from now. I’m pretty sure. You run into these interface problem sometimes. I say ‘ _sonic screwdriver_ ,’ they hear ‘ _assault weapon_ ,’ it just…” he cleared his throat, “it can get problematic.”

“Ha!” Ilisidi laughed. “Then we shall not mention you to them when they come to visit. You should acquire a paidhi like lord Bren, nand’Doctor. But we shall not lend him to you. He is already in far too great a demand.”

“ _You_ wouldn’t be interested in a quick trip, would you, nand’dowager? Plenty of other friendly planets to visit.”

“Impertinent young man,” she snapped, but with the ghost of a smile that softened the tone. “This planet and its problems keep us more than occupied. You will wait here with us and tell us about this ship of yours, until my young men let us know that they have solved the puzzle of this mysterious signal. Then I think it would be best for you to move your ship out of the exhibition hall, nand’Doctor, and _if_ you do not destroy anything or cause any more trouble, you and your associate will eat lunch at our table.”

“Nandi,” the Doctor said with a grin. “One would be honored.

*****

Bren heard the footsteps in the hall as the dowager and the Doctor entered his office, trailed by a half dozen of her guard. And rose, perhaps a little too quickly. 

“Aiji-ma.” He wobbled slightly as he bowed, and Jago quickly reached to steady his arm.

“Nand’paidhi,” Ilisidi said, thumping her cane on the carpet. “You look exhausted. We will take charge of these travelers, and we strongly suggest that you rest.”

“Are you alright?” Donna asked, looking alarmed.

“A small accident a few days ago, nadi,” Bren said, trying to sound in control. “A slight concussion most likely, but I am otherwise quite well, I thank you.”

“Pish!” The dowager glared at Bren and at his aishid. “You are quite as bad as your Guild senior, nand’paidhi. I have invited this Lord of Time and his associate to lunch and insist you go and take care of yourself. We are going to supervise the removal of his spaceship from the exhibition hall. Would you lend us two of your guard for this purpose? We have committed a number of our own guard to securing and reopening the exhibition hall, the Guild headquarters still being too busy to send extra force.”

“To supervise removal of the ship, Aiji-ma? Certainly.” Bren bowed again, more carefully this time. "Tano-ji, Gini-ji?" The two guards so named bowed in acknowledgment of the order. 

“Go! Rest, paidhi-ji,” Ilisidi waved him off, a command.

Bren was halfway to his apartment when Banichi stopped suddenly and spoke rapidly in code into his communications unit. He understood none of it except the part that he knew referred to Algini and Tano. Only then, did his mind finally piece together the important thought it had been working on."

“Nadiin-ji,” he said to his guard. “This Doctor is moving his ship, and the aiji-dowager is going with him? That is why she wanted Tano and Algini for backup. Moving it where?”

"One also believes that Algini is hoping to get a closer look at some of this lord's technology," Jago said.

Bren could well imagine. "Where are they moving the ship? Is everything alright?" he asked.

“The aiji-dowager informed Tabini-aiji that she had invited nand’ Doctor and Donna-daja to lunch,” Banichi said. “The aiji told her she was by no means permitted to bring alien strangers to the third floor of the Bu-javid. She told him that she would take lunch at Malguri instead.”

“She’s taking a cross-continental flight to have lunch, just to spite the aiji?” Bren asked, incredulous.

“One understands, nandi,” Banichi said, “that they have just traveled there in the blue box.”

"With Algini and Tano."

"Yes, Bren-ji," Banichi said. 

They continued the walk up to Bren's apartment with Banichi communicating almost constantly with other Guild. Narani had gotten there before them, somehow, and welcomed them at the door.

Once in his own room, Bren immediately found himself, quite against his will, being undressed and tucked into bed by Jago and Koharu. 

“Nadiin-ji,” he protested. “It is the middle of the day.” He was exhausted, but two of his aishid had just disappeared in an alien spaceship, for god's sake.

“Banichi points out that while you have insisted he rest you have done hardly enough resting yourself over the last four days,” Jago said pointedly. “And nand’Siegi has hinted strongly that we might drug you, if you continue to push yourself, which the aiji also supports. An hour’s rest, if you please, Bren-ji.” Bren’s head was growing lighter and fuzzier and he put it down on the pillow just for a moment, as Koharu gathered up his clothing to be sorted and cleaned.

“Algini and Tano,” Bren started to protest.

“They have phoned, Bren-ji. They have indeed arrived at Malguri in the blue box,” Jago said, as if such instantaneous travel were an everyday event. “The aiji dowager appears to have things well in hand. And despite all expectations they do not even need you to translate for them.”

“An hour,” Bren said, feeling trapped. “Then wake me, please Jago-ji. Someone should also see to the young gentleman and his guests.”

“Lord Tatiseigi and Madam Saidin are quite capable of caring for the children, Bren-ji.” Jago said in that patient way she used when he was being stubborn. “Sleep.” 

He slept. 

And woke later as Jago entered the room and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Jago-ji. Has it been an hour?” His thought his head might actually hurt worse than before he had fallen asleep, but even through the haze he could see that Jago was on edge.

“It has been a little longer, Bren-ji. One would not have waked you, but there is a report of disturbance in the aiji dowager’s apartments, and Algini and Tano are still absent with her party.” She stood, suddenly, and placed a hand to the communications device in her ear.

Bren could hear a crash, shouting in the hall and a gunshot. Then there was a sound he’d never heard before - a strange, wheezing, mechanical sound. Before he could even sit up, Jago had turned back toward him and leaped onto the bed, rolling Bren off it and to the floor just as the door burst open and a tall figure in Assassin’s black rushed in. Jago yelled something into her com unit that he couldn’t understand in all the chaos. Then her weight on top of him lessened as she came up on to her knees- still providing him with cover- elbows on the edge of the bed, gun aimed at the door. But instead of the deafening sound of gunshots at close range there was another sound, a truncated cry, and the sound of someone falling to the floor. 

Silence. Bren untucked his head, looking up at Jago, who didn’t object. He sat up, also looking over the bed. Bindanda was standing there, holding a very large knife that in no way belonged to the kitchen. A stranger in Guild uniform lay at his feet. Somewhat belatedly, Banichi came running down the hallway and also burst into the bedroom.

“Where were you, nadi?” Jago snapped at Banichi as he stepped around the body on the floor.

“The Time Lord’s ship appeared very suddenly in the middle of the hall, blocking the way. And blocking my shot,” Banichi said. He was actually slightly out of breath Bren was shocked to realize, remembering too late that Banichi was still walking wounded himself. “One was obliged to double back and go through the servant passages.” Banichi also bowed deeply to Bindanda. “Nadi, one is in your debt for the fast action.” 

“What is all this racket, nandiin? And why are we in the paidhi-aiji’s apartment?” _That_ was Ilisidi’s voice, from down the hall. 

Nawari appeared next, running down the hall to the increasingly crowded doorway, followed by Tano and Algini. Then a very disturbed Narani, also out of breath. He could hear Jase farther down the hall asking what was going on.

Bren suddenly wanted very much to crawl back into his bed and go back to the nap he had been trying to avoid, now that it was clearly no longer an option. Instead, he accepted Jago’s assistance in getting to his feet, and found his dressing gown.

“Nandi,” Bindanda said with a bow to Bren. “One is exceedingly sorry for the blood on the carpet.” Bren was almost startled into a grim laugh.

“Danda-ji, one by no means will hold it against you. One is grateful for the fast action. Who was he? How did he get in?”

“Houmuri,” Banichi said, looking at the corpse. One of the Dojisigi Assassins who had surrendered to them at Tirnamardi. Who had been housed, more than held in the dowager's apartments this last week. “His partner?”

“Eliminated by the dowager’s staff as they escaped from her apartments,” Nawari reported.

Tap, tap, came the sound of Ilisidi’s cane down the hallway.

“Aiji-ma,” Bren heard Cenedi say, “please do not disservice the paidhi’s staff and your own by tracking blood down the hall.”

“Nand’Doctor,” Ilisidi said, “You have landed us in the paidihi-aiji’s apartment and not our own!”

“Trust me, nand’dowager, for him, this is as accurate as it gets.” This from Donna.

“Donna, give me a break!”

“Hmph! He landed on the balcony at Malguri with no apparent difficulty.”

“ _Thank_ you, ‘Sidi-ji.”

God, Bren thought, not sure if he was even fully awake or what reality he'd woken up in. 

_‘Sidi-ji?’_ he mouthed to Nawari, who shrugged and gave him a look that said the dowager’s men were used to everything by now. He had the dowager, her men, a ship captain, half his own staff and two visitors from another planet standing in his hallway and here he was in his dressing gown. 

“Nadiin-ji,” Bren said, desperate, “could we have everyone wait in the sitting room while I dress, possibly?”

“Of course, nandi,” Narani said, sweeping into action and herding the growing crowd out of Bren’s bedroom, leading them through the servant passages to the front rooms. 

“One advises some haste, however, nandi," Banichi said. "The aiji has just sent word that he will be joining us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been waiting for fourteen books for Bindanda to get a chance to do something with weapons. What fun is it to have a cook who is a spy with the Assassins' Guild if he never gets to kill anyone, I ask you?  
> 


	6. Chapter 6

Bren suspected that he had only the miraculous communication between household servants to thank, but he was indeed dressed and presentable before the aiji arrived. To get to the front of his apartment he had to go through the servant passages, however, which he had rarely seen despite having lived in the apartment for years. Jase, apparently having been briefed on the situation, had come out in court attire with Kaplan and Polano – not in their security gear, thank god.

Tabini-aiji entered with a full eight of his guard, two of whom took up posts at the front door as the aiji continued to the sitting room. Four stayed with the aiji, clearly intent on dealing with the alien visitors at the slightest provocation. The final two, at the aiji’s gesture, headed toward the security station (though possibly to supervise the ongoing commotion that was Bren’s hallway.) Behind the aiji, to Bren’s dismay, was Cajeiri and his own aishid. 

“Nand’paidhi, honored grandmother,” Tabini greeted them. Was there a little sarcasm in the address to Ilisidi?

“Aiji-ma,” Bren said, bowing. “Young aiji. May one introduce the Doctor and Donna, the travelers who arrived this morning in the blue box. Nandiin, this is Tabini-aiji, ruler of the aishidi’tat and his son and heir Cajeiri. This is Jase-aiji, one of the captains of the human ship Phoenix.”

Tabini gave the slight nod that was courteous greeting from an aiji to an unassociated lord. The two visitors both bowed at Bren’s coaching and looked up, and up; Tabini was tall even for an ateva.

“May one see their ship, honored father?” Cajeiri asked, clearly excited. 

“My son may _look_ at the alien ship, but under no circumstances is he to enter it,” the aiji’s gaze was ice cold and directed towards the young man’s bodyguard. They all bowed in unison.

“Thank you, honored father!” The heir and his aishid walked off to further crowd the hallway at a decorous pace that must be the result of a great force of will. 

“Lord of Time,” Tabini-aiji addressed the Doctor, “we understand that you have twice caused major disturbance in the Bu-javid by landing your ship in inconvenient locations, and that the relocation of large sections of the aiji-dowager’s guard to the Bu-javid security office, the exhibition hall and an impromptu trip to the East resulted in two prisoners escaping from her apartments and making an attempt on the life of the paidhi-aiji.” He paused to let that statement stand. 

“We also understand,” Tabini continued, “that we have you to thank for the routing of a small remnant of a problem within the Assassins’ Guild that has caused us some concern and for the discovery several previously unknown traitors. For which assistance, we inform you that we will decline to file Intent on the first matter. We suggest that you have overstayed the paidhi-aiji’s hospitality, however.” He looked at Bren. “Nand’paidhi.”

“Aiji-ma?”

“Your apartment will be back in order within an hour. If it is not, the persons responsible will answer to us, alien or no.” Tabini glared at the aiji-dowager who had not risen and who affected not to notice her grandson’s displeasure.

“One is very grateful, aiji-ma,” Bren said.

“What does filing Intent mean?” Donna whispered to the Doctor.

“Not now, Donna.”

Tabini made a gesture to his guard, who moved to escort the Doctor and Donna back to their ship which was, yes, still blocking the hallway.

“Honored Grandmother,” Tabini said, in a tone of voice that warned of an impending storm. “Did we not specifically order that no foreign strangers were to be permitted in the third floor residences?”

“And you, grandson, were so worried about the threat of unauthorized persons on this floor brought your son with you to meet them?” 

“Do tell us, exactly where would be safe to leave my son, esteemed grandmother, when these strangers can evidently appear out of thin air _directly into secured apartments_?”

"Inadequately secured, it would appear," Ilisidi said.

"Oh indeed. Let us further address the topic of inadequate security by discussing the manner in which two Guild Assassins escaped from your apartments, where they should never have been housed..." 

Bren made his escape and instructed his servants to close the doors to the sitting room behind him. There was going to be a fair amount of yelling, he suspected. He met Cajeiri returning from the hallway, almost bouncing with excitement.

“Nand’Bren! Have you seen the foreigners’ ship?”

“One saw it indeed, young gentleman, though both Tano and Algini were inside and traveled in it.”

“Do they know how the ship works, nandi? One would much rather our father give orders to build a ship like that than one like the human ship. It would have been far more convenient to travel to Reunion in a ship that can move instantly.”

“That it would have, young gentleman, though you would then not have had the chance to meet your human associates. Where are your guests, if one may ask?”

“They are still in my Uncle’s apartment, nandi. My guard said the security alert was over, and I went to my own apartment to retrieve something to show my guests when I overheard one of the servants talking about aliens having landed inside the Bu-javid this morning! Our father was not happy that we overheard, but then the notice came that there was another alert and the two Dojisigi Guild had broken into your apartment and he said we should come with him and be on our very best behavior.” The boy took a deep breath after rattling off all that at once, but then looked disappointed. “One would very much wish to see the inside of the ship, nandi.”

Tabini had probably decided that it was safer to bring him along to satisfy his curiosity and have him under close watch than to leave him alone and risk his defying an order to stay put, Bren thought.

“The young gentleman might see if my staff or your great grandmother’s took any pictures of the inside of the ship. One would be very surprised if there were not such,” Bren suggested. "Knowing what one does of the Guild at any rate."

They approached the crowd in the hallway around the side door that lead around the obstruction. The Doctor appeared to be arguing with Tano over the return of items that had been confiscated by Bu-javid Security. Tano reluctantly handed him a long cylindrical metal object.

“Nandi!” Cajeiri said loudly and squeezed through the crowd to get next to the Doctor, much to the consternation of his aishid. “We are very pleased to meet you, nandi.” He held out his hand to the Doctor and then to Donna, in the custom he had learned from his human associates.

“One is very honored to meet you young aiji,” the Doctor said shaking the young man’s hand. “But we have been asked to leave and these good people seem to be escorting us to our ship. Expeditiously."

He eyed the tall, grim Guild surrounding them.

“Our father is not happy about your being here,” Cajeiri agreed. “But he has had a very stressful week.” A pause. “Actually the last two years have been very difficult for him. But our father says that you are very old, nandi and live a very long time. You may come back when we are aiji. Then we will see the inside of your ship because no one will be able to order us not to.”

Bren was torn between hoping he would still be around to witness that and hoping that he would not. The entire company was moving slowly through the narrow servants' hall to reach the door of the blue box. Bren was not clear at this point whether the visitors were technically guests or prisoners, but he felt as the lord of the household he should be there regardless. The Doctor opened the door to the ship and there was more arguing about whether any of the bodyguards needed to inspect the inside again.

"Well!" the Doctor said cheerfully. "Quite a visit we've had. Lovely scenery, very little running for our lives. Very pleased to meet all of you. Do thank the aiji-dowager for lunch again for us, will you?" this to Bren. 

“Wait,” Jase had come up behind them. “Sir. Doctor. Before you leave. The kyo have said they will be coming here. Do you know if we’re in danger from the species they are at war with? Can you tell us anything about them?”

The Doctor looked surprised; then he grimaced, shook his head and ducked into the TARDIS. Donna looked at the faces gathered around them, both atevi and human and shrugged. She followed the Doctor and the door closed behind her. The noise Bren had heard before was back, that mechanical grinding and wheezing and – just like that – the enormous blue box slowly disappeared.

“That’s not very reassuring,” Jase muttered.

"Not particularly, no," Bren agreed.

"Do you think they are really gone this time, nandiin?" Cajeiri asked

Baji-naji," Banichi said, sounding rather grim, Bren thought. "There will certainly be consultation with the Guild on new protocols in the event they are not."

Tabini and Ilisidi approached them from the hall, possibly distracted from familial argument by the unusual sounds.

"Aiji-ma, one recommends a full sweep of the Bu-javid to ascertain that our visitors are indeed gone," Banichi said. "Guild headquarters will have reinforcements on-site within fifteen minutes to assist."

"Do it," Tabini ordered. "Nand-paidhi, one assumes that these aliens did not ask directions to your estate on the coast?" 

Bren blinked. 

"No, aiji-ma. Najida and the coast did not come up in conversation, to my knowledge."

"One asks you to take my son and his guests to Najida for the remainder of their stay, if the repairs to the estate are sufficiently advanced."

"Aiji-ma," Bren bowed. "One is assured the repairs will not interfere with such a visit, if we are so honored by the young aiji's presence." 

"Yes!" Cajeiri cheered.

"Honor be damned, nandiin, we will sleep better if you and our son _and_ the human children are somewhere other than the place where my grandmother is intent on causing a security disaster!" Tabini said, his voice rising at the end of the sentence as Ilisidi emerged from the sitting room.

"Damn your own honor, grandson; we raised you to be more polite than that!"

"Did you now? And now that we have made provision to have my son, his guests and the paidhi-aiji move safely away from this chaos, what other plans of yours should we be wary of? We do still have a wife and a daughter you might endanger before the week is out if you try hard enough."

"We believe we may commission a woodcarving to commemorate this unusual visit," Ilisidi said with a sly smile. 

"One thinks one might be able to reproduce some of the technology in that gentleman's sonic device," Bren heard Tano say to Algini . "It might be very useful."

"Unfortunate that we could not gracefully keep it," Algini said.

Bren wondered tonight was too soon to get everyone out of Shejidan. The aiji was right; too much had been going on here- and everywhere- the last few weeks.

"Well, young gentleman," he said to Cajeiri, "it looks as though you will get your fishing trip after all. We had all best go pack."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoy it when Tabini and his grandmother argue in case you couldn't tell. This was a trip to write. Thanks for reading, small niche fandom!

**Author's Note:**

> My oldest fandom and my newest fandom, sitting in a tree. I thought of this crossover idea and had to write it because I giggled every time I thought of the Assassins Guild investigating the TARDIS appearing in the middle of everything. The Doctor goes EVERYWHERE! Of course he should visit my new favorite planet! I also had to look up the heights of every actor who has played the Doctor. David Tennant is 6'1" in case you were curious, and I always picture Bren as being a little over 6 feet tall because he's only mentioned as being on the tall side for a human. And if you don’t believe that Ilisidi would be completely taken by the idea of a human-looking alien who is a thousand years old but looks like a handsome young man and has knack for digging up trouble, well, you didn’t read the same books I did.
> 
> Also, since the earth of the atevi never got a proper name in series other than “earth” but the Doctor would totally have one for it, I borrowed Ivrel from Ms. Cherryh’s first published novel “Gate of Ivrel.”


End file.
